truxlee



QNo Model.) 6 Sheets-Shet 1.

H. TRUXLER.

MACHINE POR COMBING FIBROUS MATERIALS. v No. 340,172. rtente'd Apr. 20', 1886.

N. PETER; Phorwmnumph-f. wnmnmn. D. t;

6 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

r H. TRUXLER.

MAGHINE PoR COMBING PIBROUS MATERIALS.

PatentedApr. 2o, 1886.l

N, PETERS, PhulLimngmphur. Washington. ELC.

6 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No-Model.)

E. TRUXLER.

MACHINE FOR GOMBING PIBROUS MATERIALS. No. 340,172. Patented Apr. 20, 1886.

1,. N. PETERS. mwumnmpn". wasmngm. n, c.

(No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 4. H. TRUXLBR.

MACHINE FOB. GOMBING PIBROUS MATERIALS.

Patented Apr. 20, 1886. i

N. PETERS. Phmmljlhognphnr, Wnihingion. DA

(No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 5.

l H. TRUXLER.

MACHINE PQR GOMBING PIBROUS MATERIALS. No. 340,172. Patented Apr. 20, 1886.

Rg. m.

Inventar "RW gm MMM l Awww W5WMMW&W/

(No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 6.

H. TRUXLER,

MACHINE POR GoMBING PIBROUS MATERIALS.

No. 340,172. Patented Apr. 20, 1886.

l :um: um :mm1 muuuunnu m gnu/HAANuwfu1lrfmnmrh HAM? nmmfrmwuuwwwg un umm 5A A A AA,AAAAAA AAA HENRI TRUXLER, OF LURE, FRANCE.

lMACHINE FOR COMBING FIBROUS MATERIALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 340,172, dated April 20, 1886. Application filed March 2, 1883. Seri-al No. 86,852. (No model.) Patented in France December 2, 1879, No. 135,954; in Germany December 20, 1870, No. 10,141, and September 24, 1881, No, 15,187; in England August 24, 1880, No. 3,422, and in Belgium August 25, 1860, No. 52,400, December 13, 1880, No. 53,302, and December 5, 1881, No. 56,402.

To all whom, if may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRI TRUxLnR, of Lure in the Department of Haute-Sane, in the Republic of France, have invented new and useful Improvements in Machines for Gombin'g Fibrous Materials, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machinery for combing fibrous materials; and it consists in the construction and combination of devices hereinafter particularly set forth and claimed.

It is the object of my invention to furnish a machine for ne Wool especially, which produces a sliver without any reproach as to perfeet evenness and cleanness, such as is desirable for the finest work.

It is further my object to increase the daily production, and to construct a cheap and simple machine.

I shall describe my improved comber with reference to the drawings annexed to this specification.

Figure I represents in part a longitudinal section of the machine. Figs. II, III, IV, and V represent part cross-sections showing the successive positions of the feeder and nippers of the nipper-cylinder relatively to each other. Fig. VI represents a partial side elevation ofthe machine, the same being partly in section. Fig. VII represents a-partial plan ofthe machine. Fig. VIII is aside elevation of the parts supplying fibers to the machine. Figs. IX and X are detail drawings of the construction of part of the feeder. Fig. XI shows an end elevation of part of the deliveryrollers. Figs. XII and XIII show two different positions of the blade on the collectingbrush, and nippers partly in section. Fig. XIV shows a part plan of the means for imparting motion to rollers r q and rollers s and t, as shown in Fig. I. Fig. XV shows the arrangement of teeth on the segmental comb inside of the nippercylinder in per spective view.

Similar letters of reference in the different figures of the drawings refer to similar parts.

The order in which parts will be described is as follows: first, mode of supplying fibers to the machine; second, feeder, third, nipper` eas will be explained hereinafter.

rolled lap of iibrous material is then taken cylinder; fourth, straight comb with auxiliary extracting roller; filth, delivery apparatus; sixth, stripping apparatus; seventh, driving mechanism; eighth, general operation.

1. llode of supplying jbers to the machine.- In Figs. I and VIII, T represents the sideor main frame of the machine, to the one end of which bracket o is bolted, said bracket supporting in suitablebearings a series of lapcarriers or friction-rollers, o o. (See Fig. VIII.) The lap rolls Z or bobbins of brous material, of which there may be one or more, but ordinarily two, as shown, are placed on said rollers o o, and the laps are slowly unrolled and fed to the machine bythe combined action of the nippercylinder andthe feeder,

The unhold of by the feeder after passing over a guiding sheet of zinc or galvanized iron, x, Fig. VIII.

2. The feecler.-The feeder is constructed with an oscillating cast-iron support or table, L, on which the sliding grate-box A is provided for guiding and holding the lap and inserting the same between the nippers when` necessary, and also for stopping or retaining the ]ap,with help of the rake or comb Swhen a bunch of fibers has to be extracted by the nippers. Table L (see Fig. I, IX, and X) is provided with two arms, cast onto both sides, onto theend of which arms thelpins L aresecured rigidly fast, saidy pins L/ forming the fulcrums of oscillating table L and being journaled within suitable bearings provided on each side frame T of the machine. On top of table L the grate-box A is made to slide forward and backward. This grate-box A is formed of two similar grate-plates, fitted rigidly one above the other so as to leave sufficient space between the same for the passage and guidance of the lap of fibrous material. Suitable grooves, c, (see Fig. IX and X,)are provided on top of table L, said grooves guiding suitable projecting bars cast to the bottom of gratebox A. It must be observed that all that is shown on Fig. I, with exception of the shaft` ing, rollers, and cylinders, is existing double or alike for `both side frames of the machine.

I shall describe, however, only the parts of one side, if it does not become absolutely necessary to mention both the sides. If parts occur only on one side, I shall especially stateso. On top of the grate-box A rack-bars D aresecured rigidly fast, or cast on, which engage with the cogs of gearsegment C. This gearsegment and a lever-arm, E, are keyed onto shaft B, said shaftjournaled within bearings, which are bolted to the bottom of table L. If lever-arm E is oscillated, gear-segment C will also oscillate, causing grate-box A, by means of racks D, to slide accordingly. Said lever-arm E is worked from the driving-shaft K ofthe machine by means of cam J and angular lever F,' cam J being keyed to shaft K, and angular lever F fulcrumed on pin V, which is rigidly fixed on the frame T". The driving-shaft K of the machine,making about one hundred and sixty revolutions a minute, is journaled within bearings formed by the suitablyshaped side frames, T", of the .machine, and revolves in the direction indicated by arrow. The horizontal arm ofleverF rests by its own weight, and by means of frictionroller G, `on the curve of cam J. The vertical arm, however, oflever F engages with t-he end oflever E by means of a slot, b", wherein pin b,secured to lever E,slides. According to the curves of cam J, therefore, one revolution of shaft K will lift roller G for a certain time and distance, and will cause it to descend again, thus causing grate-box A to slide once forward and backward during one revolution of K. It will be observed that the axis or the line, which may be imagined,throngh the fulcrums L' of the table L is coinciding, or nearly so, with the the axis or center line of pin b' of lever-arm E, (see also Figs. IX and K,) and therefore when table L oscillates downward or upward the axis ot' pin b' will always remain coinciding, or nearly so, with said fulcrum L', and therefore fulcrum L,being stationary, the position of pin b' will also be stationary, or nearly so,and said position of pin b',therefore, will only be affected by arm F with slot b", which fact is important for the correct opera- ,tion of parts, as described hereinafter. Table L, being fulcrumed at L', rests by its own weight, and by means ot' a downwardly-projecting part, on friction-roller M, said roller being journaled tothe vertical arm of a threearmed lever, N, which lever is worked from the driving-shaft K ofthe machine by means of a cam, l). Cam P is keyed to shaft K, and thel'ulcrum of lever N, called N', is rigidly fixed to frame T"ot' the machine. On another arm of lever N the stripping apparatus for the comb C', inside ol' the nipper-cylinder, is provided, the description ot' which will be given farther below in its proper place. Lever N, supporting the table L and carrying the stripping apparatus, bears down on the curve of lcam P by means of friction-roller O, and will therefore rise or descend, according to the shape of cam P, and so will raise or lower tatouff ble L, as may be necessitated, once during every revolution of shaft K. Stop comb or rake S', consisting of a series of combs, is located above table L and grate-box A, and is bolted to the ends or' two adjustable levers,

within the slots of the gratings of box A,

there being at least as many rows of teeth in said rake as there are slots in the gratebox. "When, therefore, the lap of tibrous material is held between the grating of box A, while the same is raised to its highest position, lthe teeth of the stop comb or rake S inserted into the slots will penetrate and pierce the lap of fibrous material, the teeth of stop comb or rake S being made of great length of round steel wire with line clean points. Levers T', which are rigidly connected by means of a cross-bar, c', are fulcrumed at Z' Z', being rigidly fast to frame T". The said levers are provided one on each side of the machine, they resting by their own weight on screw-bolts c, said bolts being screwed into the side frame of the machine. By adjusting said bolts c the levers T' may be lowered or raised, thereby bringing the rake S', which is bolted at eachI side to one of levers T', into a higher or into a lower position. An additional row of teeth, forming a very fine comb, s', is placed just over the outlet of the box A, and is screwed rigidly fast to theend of stop comb or rake S', with the purpose of utilizing the space left between the straight comb and the feeder. Itis the object of rake S', with additional comb, s', to stop any forward movement of the lap ot' fibrous material whenever grate-box Ais brought near and into its highest position, and said comb may properly be called the stop-comb. According to quality of stock, it becomes necessary to adjust this stop-comb higher or lower, which is done by means of the screw-bolts c. y

3. The nipper-cylinder. (Figs. I and VII.) The nipper-cylinder operates as close to the feeder as possible, and consists of two pairs of rotary segmental nippers, H H'. The jaws H of each nipper are placed diametrically opposite each other, and are rigidly fixed to the two end plates, Q Q, thereby connecting the same. Each ofthese end platesQ is rigidly connect-ed with the cam-platesf, which govern the movement of the straight comb Q', and the end plate Q and its attached cam-plate f of one side only are rigidly connected to the upper of two elliptical wheels, R. Each end plate Q is journaled onto a shaft, T, which is journaled at the same horizontal alignment with fulcrums or pins L' ofthe feeder, within bearings S, said bearings bolted rigidly fast to each side of the frame T". IThe jaws li' of each nipper are movable, and are operated by a lever-and-link arrangement at- IOO IIO

@sogna Y :l

tached v to end plates, Q. Each jaw H' is rigidly secured to one end of levers U, which are fulcrumed on pins U', said pins U rigidly xed within end plates, Q, and each jawH' is made to work together with a jaw, H, so as to form a clamp or nipper for seizing the brous material. In each pair of nippers the levers U are provided at their other ends with friction-rollers g',and are linked at these same ends to links V which link again to the ends of arms X, said arnisX being rigidly secured to the pins X', as shown, for one side of the machine in Fig. VI and VII. Pins X' are fnlerumed within eyes cast onto plates Q, and reach through the cam-platesfand the elliptical wheel R, and are provided at these outer ends with armsX", arms X" being fastened on pins X' and set parallel to arms X. These arms X", therefore, form double cranks, together with arms X and pins X',and said arms X carry at their ends rollers Y, which are pressed against the periphery of the earn Z by the contracting power of two helical springs,

B', which are attached to the caps A A'. In

both pairs of nippers said caps rest on the connecting-pin of links V and arms X. The helical springs B', therefore, owing to their contracting power, will cause rollers Y ofboth systems of nippers to follow curves of cani Z This cam is bolted rigidly fast by means of the bolts h", (see Figs. VI and VIL) to a part cast together with the bearing S, and is sleeved on shaft T. It has a curve composed of two half circles or arcs, one of smaller and one of larger radius. Rollers Y will rise and jaws H H will open whenever the rollers pass from the are of smaller radius to that of larger radius,

lThe rollers g', journaled on the connecting-pin of links V and levers U, as explained in the above, are lifted at times by the action of noses g, which are cast onto the hubs of arms D at about an angle of ninety degrees relatively to said arms. Attthe end ot' these arms D a segmental comb, C', is secured. (Pl-ain! y visible in Fig.IV.) Thesaid comb is formed by a number of rows of teeth, which teeth gradually' increase in neness, and are more closely set together in the rows when counting upward from the lower side of the comb to the upper side thereof. (See Fig. XV.) The hubs of arms D', keyed securely to shaft T between the end plates,Q, are oscillated, together with noses g and comb U', by means of a lever, E', which occurs only on one side of the machine, and which is rigidly keyed on one end of shaft T, on the outside of the side framesof the machine. Lever E' is provided with a gearsegment, S", cast thereon. Said segment S" engaging with cogs S', provided on lever F. This lever is fulcruined on the pin G', said pin rigidly fixed to frame T", and said lever carries on a projecting arm,-Y', a roller, J', journaled thereon, and bears with said roller against cam K', keyed to the driving-shaft K. One revolution of shaft K will raise and lower F once, and thereby will swing arms E' and D' and comb C' and noseg once up and down again, and whenever rollers g of the two revolving systems of nippers meet noses g, said rollers g' will be raised for a short moment, and also the grip of the nippers will be opened for a short period of time, said opening happening independently of the opening caused by cam Z. The comb C', being made to strike close to the inside of the segmental nippers, will comb effectively, therefore, all the fibers gripped by the jaws and lprojecting into the inside space of the nipper-cylinder. The rotary motion of end plates, Q, with nippers is continuous, but varying in velocity, accelerating and slackening the speed alternately, owing to the arrangement ofthe two elliptical wheels R R, of which one is bolt-ed, together with the cam f, to the outside faee of one plate Q, being sleeved on the hub of the latter concentrieally to shaft T. The other ellipticaln wheel is journaled to a pin, W', secured perpendicularly below shaft T to thelrame T", said latter wheel receiving its motion from the driving-sliaft K and running at a speed half that ofshaft K, the reason of which will be further set forth hereinafter. The elliptical wheels are both alike, and vso combined that when the greatest diameter of the one points to the center of the other wheel the greatest diameter of both wheels will be at right angles. The direction of revolution of the nipper-oylinder and the drivingshaft K is asindicated by The relative position and the shape ofthe cams on shaft K will give the following combination and order of movements for the feeder' and the nipper-cylinder; Ve start from position in Fig. l, where the table L is in its highest position, grate-box A in its most advanced position relatively to the nipper-cylinder, and where the one pair of nippers is just about to draw the tibers out from the feeder, while the diametrically-opposed pair has just opened and delivered the cleaned fibers to the delivery apparatus. The nippercylinder, with its tirst pair of nippers tightly IIS shut on the fiber ends close to the face of the fastest as soon as the fibers are completely extracted and when the nipper cylinder has merely to perform transporting duty. Vhile the nipper-cylinder is extracting the fibers from the grate-box A, table L will remain in its most elevated position f'or about a third of a revolution of shaft K, together with gratebox A, which also will remain in its most advanced position relatively to table L. The lap offibrous material (while the fibers cla mped bythe nippers are being extracted) will rcmain behind, owing to the stop-comb S', which is deeply inserted into and pierces the lap. The lap will be left behind, protruding from grate-box A for ordinary woolfor instance, in the shape of a beard of two or two and one half inches in length. The nipper-cylinder, however, having reached its maximum speed, and all fibers held by its nippers being completely extracted from the grate-box A, will diminish again its speed, and table L will begin to descend with increasing rapidity, together with grate-box A',which, after having cleared combs of stop comb or rake S', will be slid back. When table Lshallhave reached its lowest position, and when, simultaneously, gratebox A has been slid forward again, the other opened pair of nippers will just have arrived close in front of the table, and as soon as the cleft of the opened jaws of the nippers shall have arrived close to and before the front of the projecting` grate-box A, said grate-box,

together with the opened jaws of the nippers, will ascend both together with the same speed, grate-box A always getting nearer to the jaws .until the end of the lap protruding from box A is laid fully between the jaws of the nippers, as shown in Fig. III. This end of thelap having a cert-ain amount of stiffness, owing to the heaviness of the lap in thecase of wool and other long fibrous material, is always at least two or two and onehalf inches long, and projects, therefore, not onlyin between the jaws, but also farther into the inside space of the nipper cylinder for about an inch and a half at least. Vhen box Ais in its nearest position to thejaws, and standing almost horizontally, the jaws ofthe nippers will shut rapidly and tightly on the end of the lap protruding from box A., owing to the position of roller Y on cam Z, and immediately afterward comb C', having been raised up to its highest position at the very moment when table L began its descending movement, will be rapidly lowered again, owing to the respective positions ofroller J' and cam K'. Comb G', therefore, by this downward stroke close to the inside surface of the segmental nippers, will pass through the head ends of the lap clamped between the nippers and projecting into the inside space ot' the nippercylinder, and will effectively comb said part or about an inch and a half of the lap while said nippers and table L are ascending close together. Immediately after the time when comb C shall have performed its combing of the head end of the lap, noses g will strike rollers g', and will open the nippers again for a short space of time. The table L, however, at the same time beginning to swing off from the Dipper-cylinder, will draw the lap back again from between the jaws, and will bring the head ends of the fibers, or that portion of the same which has just received a combing by comb C', between thenip, and will withdraw it for about half an inchl outside of the same, as vshown in-Fig. IV. Then the jaws shut again at onceA and take hold of the clean extreme end of thelap, owing to noses ghaving left rollers g. At this moment the nippercylinder has reached its minimum of speed and begins now to accelerate it again. Just at this time table L is approaching its highest position. Stop-comb S therefore is soon beginning to enter into the slots of gratings of box A, said slots leavingu ample play to prevent any injury done to the long and needle-like teeth of S by contact with iron. Before stop comb S' is deeply and f'nlly inserted into the slots of box A, and before the teeth of said comb have touched thelap, this latter will be drawn forward from between the gratings of box A, because the nippers are shut, and because the'space between box A and the nip of the nippers is becoming wider as table L is swinging oli from the nipper-cylinder, this cylinder at the same time accelerating its speed. By said forward motion ofthe lap, however, owing to the consistency of long fibrous material-such as wool, for instancethe whole lap will move forward on zinc sheet m, as well as also on rollers 0 o, and the bobbins or rolls Z' will be slowly unrolled to a certain amount. produced. lIable L with box A will then-arrive at its highestposition, and then stopcomb S and the row of teeth s' will have pierced and stopped the lap, whereupon, as shown in Fig. V, a straight comb, Q', which will be described hereinafter, will also be dropped into the lap between the nippers and grate-box A into the portion of the fibers which had been cleaned by comb C',and which was partly withdrawn again from, and even for about half an inch outside of, the nip, as hereinbefore stated. It must now be understood that all that portion of the fibers which is located forward of' this straight comb Q has already been cleaned thoroughly by the action of comb G', and that the portion of fibers behind comb Q' and still engaged by the stop-comb S'and s is still um clean. While the rest ofthe lap is kept back by the stop-comb S s', and also by comb Q', all fibers clamped by the nippers will be drawn forward through comb Q', and will lbe separated from the lap, and will get perfectly stripped and cleaned by said comb Q', leaving all the noils behind'said comb Q. Shaft K will now have completed one revolution, and the process just described will be repeated.

4. Straight comb wit/i auxiliary extractingrollen-Jn order to clean all the portion ofthe fibers backward of the head ends cleaned by IOO Thus the feeding of the lap is IIO comb C', the straight comb Q'is provided between thc nipper-cylinder and the grate-box. Above the ni pper-cylinder and running across the top of the machine a cast-iron beam, T', is mounted on top of the parts extending upward from and cast together with bearings S, onto which parts also cams Z are secured. To this part of bearings S beam .T"' is secured by means of the adjustable bolts t. Comb Q',

o formed of two parallel rows of closely-set tinev teeth, is mounted rigidly fast to the ends of two cast-iron arms, which are fulcrumed to the pins U", secured into the three-armed levers V'. These levers V', of which there are two fulcrumed one at each end of beam r1""to pinsV b, secured therein, are connected by means of a rod, o', screwed into one arm of each lever V'. On this same arm of each lever V' an ear is cast, by means of which said levers rest on adjustable screw bolts c", which pass through brackets fastened to the crossbar c', connecting the arms T' of the stop-comb S', and arms integral with adjustable screwnuts d" reach over the bar, connecting levers V', holding thereby said levers down onto screw bolts c". The nuts d" engage the threaded studs d',secured into cross-bar c'. By adjusting screw-bolts c" and screwnuts d" the fulcrum U" of the straight comb Q' may be raised or lowered, and by adjusting the nuts on screws t' said fulcrums U" may be shifted horizontally, together with the Whole beam T'". The cast-iron levers of straight comb Q' are made to rest on the arms h, which are cast in one piece with the castfiron shaft a, the arm d being cast to one end of said shaft. The shaft a is journaled within beam T'", and the arm d is provided at its endwith the roller e. This roller is a friction or cam 4o roller, and bears against the curve of the cam f, which cam is fastened to and revolves with one of the plates Q, said cam f being shown more clearly in Fig. VI. The surface of cam f has two slight elevations or rises diametrically opposite each other, which will cause roller e to rise and to drop twice during one revolution of the cam f, and said elevations or rises of cam f are so located as to cause roller e to drop straight comb Q' once for each pair of nippers as soon as the position in Fig. 1,which has already been explained, is assumed. Comb Q' therefore will drop close to the nippers and close to the row of teeth s of stop-comb S' into the fibrous material and into that portion of the same which has been stripped or combed by comb C', because this portion of the fiber, as has been mentioned in the above, has been brought partly between the nip and partly outside in front of the Sallie, just far enough so that comb Q' will under no circumstances drop farther backward into the unclean part of the fibers, but will always drop into the cleaned part about one-fourth of an inch distant from the beginning ot' the uncleaned part. This secures a perfect and thorough stripping when the bers are drawn forward through the comb, and, owing to the fineness of comb Q', no particles of dust and impurities will get achance of passing through the comb,but will accumulate behind the same between comb Q' and comb s'. In order that comb Q may be dropped very close to the nip of nippers H H', hollowsj are formed on the lower nipperjaw, H', and comb Q' therefore will, when dropping into and piercing the lap, reach with the ends of its teeth or needles into said hollow j without getting injured. Hollow j may be seen in Fig. II. It has been found that owing to the very great fineness of comb Q' the effect on the combing process is such that only the longest fibers-to wit, those held by the nip-would be drawn through comb Q' and saved if an auxiliary extracting-roller, R', was not devised. Vithout this roller all intermediate fibers neither held by the nip nor sufficiently held by the stop-comb would be lost. These fibers will not be retained by stop-comb S', because they do not reach through all the rows of the rake, but only through a few, and will be drawn forward by frictional contact with the longest extracted fibers.' The straight comb Q' being so very ne, however, would prevent more than the fore end of said bers from getting farther, and these latter would accumulate behind comb Q', together with the noils, if no provisions were made for assisting them through the said comb. To obviate the loss of so many still desirable fibers, an extracting-roller, R', is made to bear heavily against the cylindrical surface of the nippers just next and close to comb Q'. Roller R' is journaled to the ends of two lever-arms, u, which are provided atl their middle portion with pins a', secured thereon, said pins a fitting into slots e', said slots e' formed within lugs cast onto both ends of beam T'. sleeved onto bolts z, said bolts being held by their heads within beam T', and having adjustable lock-nuts o at their ends. Expanding-springs w are sleeved onto bolts z, between levers u and beam T', so that when roller R' comes to bear onto the surface of the nippers the upper ends of levers u will press on said springs w. When roller R', however, has'left the nippers, then springs @c will press the upper ends of levers u against thel limiting locknuts o, and pins ct' will play within slots e'. The pressure of roller R' against the nippers H H' will depend, therefore, on the springs w. The effect of the pressure of roller R' on the moving surface of the nipper-cylinder will be that as soon as the lower nipper, H', comes up the lap of the yfibrous material will be pressed down on the cylindrical surface of the samewhich is finely uted in order to increase the friction with roller R'. All fibers, therefore, reaching with their head ends through comb Q', but ending before reaching the nip, will be caught between roller R' and nippel' H', and will be drawn forward, together with those clamped between the nippers. It

IOC

The upper ends of levers u are IIC) IIS

ISO

has been found that the use of roller R will save ten per cent. of bers, or will decrease the noils for about ten per cent.

5. Delivery apparaitra-The delivery apparatus, with respect to the nipper-cylinder, is-

placed dialnetrically opposite the feeder, and while one pair of nippers is receiving the fibers from the feeder the other pair delivers the cleaned fibers to the delivery apparatus. This apparatus (see Fig. I) consists in a continuously-revolving` cylindrical brush,h',keyed onto shaft I, said shaft journaled in bearings provided on a cast-iron framing, I, said framing bolted. to the frame T, and carrying the whole delivery apparatus. The cylindrical brush h is located so close to the Dipper-cylinder that the tips of its bristles brush against the revolving nippers whenever these have arrived in face'of the same. Arms p, journaled on both sides of the cylindrical brush on the shaft I, are provided at their ends with a segmental blade, k, said blade enveloping, on a small arc, brush h', and moving close over its ontsidesnrface,the ends ofblade k being curved away from the brush. On one side of the cylindrical brush pinion l is cast onto the arm p, said pinion engaging the cogs p of a lever, m, said lever being fulcrumed in e to the frame I. The lower end of lever mis provided with roller i, said roller being journaled thereon and bearing against the curve of camm,owing to the gravity of arin p and blade lc. Garn n is keyed on a shaft, y, which is journaled in a sleeve cast onto frame, T", and will canse lever m to oscillate to and fro at a certain stroke, swinging thereby armp and blade 7c at a certain angle rapidly and independently of the revol ving brush It upward or downward. Vhenever the nippers carrying the extracted fibers arrive opposite the face of brush 7i', the jaws H H will open, owing to the curve on cani Z, in the very moment when the brush has come into contact with the fibers, and these latter will touch the brush with the released head. ends first, so that afterward it remains to the blade k only to stroke the still free tail end of the tuft down onto the surface of the brush. The iibers, therefore, being freed from the clutch of the nippers, will be received by brush L, and immediately blade 7c will be caused to strike upward close over the surface of the brush, thereby catching the tail ends of the fibers and spreading them over the surface of brush 7L. In order to permit this the speed of brush h is very slow, and the direction ofrevolntion is as indicated by the arrow. Before the second pair of nippers arrives the blade It will swing back again in order to repeat the same process on the fibers brought by the second pair. The relative speed of brush It and of t-he nipper-cylinder is so devised that the fibers brought by the first pair of nippers and spread on the brush by blade ls will not have traveled too far to have their rear ends overlapped and covered 'by the head ends of the fibers wbrought by the claim the saine.

second pair ofnippers and spread by blade k. (See Figs. XII and XIII.) Fig. VXII shows a bunch of bers just deposited on the cylindrical brush, and Fig. XIII the position of the blade when the same is in contact with said bunch, in order to stroke it down. It must be observed here that the ends of fibers which were head ends on the nipper-cylinder have now become rear ends on thebrush, and inverse, because the nippers deposit first the head ends of the fibers on the brush,and blade lo strikes the tail ends forward down to the surface, so as to become front ends on the brush. The single bunches of fibers, therefore, thus overlapping each other, will forni on brush h a continuous band or sliver, and are taken off from brush h in any suitable way. Ve prefer to take the sliver oiI' by means of two pairs of cylinders, 1 q, (shown in Figs. I and XL) the lower one being in contact with the brush and peeling the sliver off from the surface of brush tand the upper one, 1', together with the lower roller, q, conveying the fibers in shape of a sliver onto a collectingsheet of zinc, t, which extends to both ends of the brush i; but is provided with upwardly-bent edges only toward the delivery end shown in Fig. XI. Sheet t' gathers the sliver up on the whole width of the niachine, and then said sliver is drawn off sidewise through a funnel, t, by means of two rollers, s t, which deliver the sliver into the cans. This mode of taking the sliver off sidewise, by which arrangement a vcertain slight twist is produced, is not new, and I do not Owing to this mode of taking off the sliver from brush h', and of collecting the sliver delivered by rollers r q, the said sliver will show no cuts or unevenness, and its appearance will be fault-less. If thought necessary or convenient, a drawing-head or small gill-head may be connected to the comber iinmediately after the rollers s and t. This could not be applied to the single sliver of any comber heretofore in use, because thesliver would break. The reason why this can be done to the-single sliver of my coinber has already been explained in the above.

6. The stripping apparatuanAs we have seen, the nipper-cylinder perforfns the cleaningA of the front end of the fibers by `means of the comb-segment C. This comb therefore has not only to strip ofi the motes and neps generally found in uncoxnbed laps, but also to remove the motes and nepsV stripped out by straight comb Q and left in the head end of the lap after the extraction of the fibers by the nipper-cylinder. ASaid colnb C therefore needs a continuous stripping and cleaning, andthis is performed by the stripping apparatus attached to lever N, which lever inanages the raising and lowering of the table L. The cylindrical stripping brush M is journaled to the upper arm of leverfN, close to roller M and just underneath table L, which is resting on said roller. Said brush M is con- IIO IIS

stantly and rapidly revolving, and works in contact with a continuously -revolving discharging-roller O, said roller being covered with pointed steelwire teeth. This discharging-roller O works again in contact with a continuously-revolving segmental strippingcomh,]?,provided Withstrongcard-wire. Roller O and stripping comb segment P are jou rnaled to an adjustable block, N, (see also Fig. VL) which may be slid nearer to or farther off from brush M by means of the adjustingscrew g. The adjustment of block N is made according to the wear, and also of-the amount of noils collected by cylindrical brush M. If very much noils be made, the roller O will have to be set farther away from brush M, and be set closer when less noils are made. The stripping apparatus will partake in the rise and fall of lever N. Therefore brush M will come in contact with comb-segment C during the rise of table L into its highest position, and it will do so becausethen the nippers have risen far enough to uncover the then rapidlydescending comb-segment C', and the brush M swinging, together with lever N, closer toward the nipper-cylinder, will reach into the inside space of the nipper cylinder, and will touch the upper end of comb C in the very moment when this comb-segment is swinging upward again. The motes, therefore, left in comb-segment C will be brushed off by brush M and taken from this brush by roller O to the stripping comb segment P', which will strip the motes into a suitable receptacle provided underneath it.

7. Driving mechanism- All motion is imparted to the machine from driving-shaft K, which hasa continuous speed in the direction indicated by arrow. In Figs. VI and VII an elevation and plan are given of the main part of the driving mechanism. The ni pper-cylind'er is driven by means of a gearwheel, k', keyed onto driving-shaft K, said gear-wheel engaging gear-wheel lr, r being of twice the diameter of Itl and bolted rigidly fast together with the lower of the elliptical wheels R R, both wheels (wheel r and wheel R) heing journaled on pin W', which is Secured to i the frame T. The nipper-cylinder therefore will make half the number of revolutions of driving-shaft K, and thus only one bunch of fibers will be extracted from the lap and combed for each revolution of the drivingshaft, and the cams P, K', and J will have to complete one revolution for each of the two pairs of nippers. The effect of the two elliptical wheels will be that while the lower one is driven at a uniform speed from shaftK the upper wheel will run at a variable speed-to wit, running faster when its longer axis is parallel to the shorter axis of the lower wheel, and running slower when its shorter axis is parallel to the long axis of the lower wheel. Shaft u', journaled within bearings or sleeves cast onto frame I', carries gear-wheel x', engaging with r and imparting motion to pulwhat smaller than r, and pulley c about half as large as pulleyj. Blade k therefore will be worked once for each nipper. The driving of the stripping apparatus is effected from driving-shaft K, and the speed has to be increased, because brush M requires a very high speed, much higher than that of shaft K. Gear-wheel m is journaled on the fulcrum N of lever N, which fulcrum is rigidly fast to frame T, wheel m being vcast together with the smaller one m, and being in engagement with the larger wheel Z, Z being keyed on the shaft K. Wheel lm. engages with an intermediate wheel, n', wheel n being journaled on a pin fixed to lever N and transmitting motion to pinion a, pinion n being of smaller diameter than wheel o, the pinion Wand wheel o being cast together and journaled ona pin fastened on lever N. o engages with gearwheel f, said gear-wheel being keyed onto the shaft of brush M, and being slightly larger than wheel o. Wheel f engages with gearwheel c', keyed onto shaft of dischargingroller O', and wheel c engages with wheel w', keyed onto the shaft of comb-segment P. Vheel w is smaller than wheel c', wheel fv smaller than wheel f', and wheel f', only for convenience sake, madelarger than o". Brush M therefore will revolve very much more rapidly than shaft K, O revolve faster than M, and P faster than O, which relative speeds are adapted to secure a good result in the working of the machine. As shown in Fig. KlV in plan, brush h', being provided with a spur-wheel, x, rigidly fast thereon, imparts motion to the pinions a of iluted rollers rand q, and these rollers, by means of the bevelgears y" and e", y" keyed to end of roller q, and by means of train of gear-wheels f, imparts motion to the roller t, roller s being driven by frictional contact with roller t.

8. General operation-The laps to be combed are placed on the lap carriers o, (see Fig. VIII,)said rollers being supported bybracket o', and from thence the lap is guided over sheet :v and in between the grates. The end of the lap engaged and located between the grate -boX, and protruding from the same for abouttwo inches, will partakein all movements ofthe same, owing to the friction of said lap on the inner surfaces of the gratings, and will descend with table L and boX A into the lowest position of the table. Grate-box A will slide forward, and as the one pair of nippers H H is then just ascending with opened jaws, the head ends of the fibers in the lap protruding from out the grate-box IIO ISO

will be located just before the opened jaws,

whereupon the box A, in its advanced position, together with the nippers, will begin their ascending movement, and the head end of the lap will be inserted more and more into and between the still opened jaws, the box A and table L now suv'inging nearer toward the jaws of the nippers until said table stands about horizontally. reach its nearest position to the nippers, and now the end of the lap also will lie fully inserted between the jaws ol' said nippers, and will even project from the nip into the inside space of the nipper cylinder for about one and one-halfinch. Atthis moment the nippers will shut at once on the lap and clamp the fibers, whereupon comb segment C will strike downward, and will comb and strip the one and onelhalf inch of the lap projecting inside the nip, as shown in Fig. lll. As soon as comb C will have accomplished the combing of the head ends, nose g will have reached roller g' and brush M touched comb C. The jaws H H therefore will open and gratebox A slide back for a little distance. This is shown in Fig. IV. Then the nippers will shut again, and will grasp the extreme tip of the part which has been cleaned by comb segment C', while that part of the fibers held previously, asin Fig. lll, between the nippers will come to be placed outside of the nippers, between these and the grate-box, leaving about threeeighths of an inch of' cleaned fiber outside of the nip. At this moment the brush M will have accomplished the stripping of comb C, and then the lap,which is now clamped at its extreme head end, and u hich at the same time is made to swing off from the nippers, is drawn forward from out of box A, because thespace between this and the nip is now becoming larger. This produces the feeding of the lap, because, owing to the consistency of the fibrous material the lap will also be drawn forward over sheet w, and will be unrolled also from the lap-rolls Z on the carriers o. The feeding` of the lap lasts until grate-box A has reached such a position that the stopscomb S has fully pierced and thereby stopped the lap. (See Fig. V.) After this the nippersH H', continuing their revolution, will draw the fibers through comb Q and have them perfectly cleaned and stripped from all the motes and neps, whereupon the nippers, revolving now comparatively fast, will draw not only the longest fibers held within the nip through comb Q', but also the intermediate fibers, owing to the action of the roller R', Thus a bunch of perfectly-cleaned fibers will be extracted and the remaining lap will be left in shape of a beard of' two inches length protruding from box A, with the motes and noils left behind at the surface of the head end of the same beard close behind comb Q. Vhile, no-w, the nipners holding the combed fibers convey the same toward the collectingbrush h or the delivery apparatus, the second pair of nippers Box A will now at once will arrive near the feeder, andhere the process just described for the first pair will be head ends of the extracted fibers, will strike the periphery of the brush h', and as the jaws pass said brush i/ they will open and leave the head ends of the fibers on the bristles of the brush h', and while the nippers, with opened jaws, continue their revolution toward the feeder, blade k will strike upward and with such a speed as to catch the tail ends of the fibers, the head ends of which have been deposited on the brush. Blade k then at one stroke will spread the fibers down close to the brush, the head ends of which fibers thereby become rear ends with respect to the direction of motion ofbrush h', and then the blade will drop again backward into its lowest position before the second pair of nippers brings a new bunch of fibers, whereon blade 7c will repeatY its operation, but so that these fibers will overlap the ends. of' the first bunch on the brush. owing to the small speed of the latter. Brush It therefore will be covered on its top with a continuous sheet of fibers and will have the sheet peeled off by the action of rollers r and q, which are continuously and rapidly revolving` the bottom roller being in contact with brush and peeling off the lap, owing to the friction of its surface, the top roller, r, however, together with roller q. drawing the lap off and farther on over sheet t to the funnel t and to the rollers s and t. By this process a continuous and faultlessly clean sheet or band of fiberswill be produced showing no cuts or uneven portion whatever.

Also, complicated mechanism has been devised heretofore for performing a similar duty as is done by my brush, blade, and peeling-off' rollers, said mechanism consisting either of a traveling comb with sheet attached thereto for catching the fibers presented by nippers, and for depositing the same into a toothlcovered apron. the fibers being overturned during the said operation, or said mechanism consist-ing of a revolving cylinder with oscillating tooth-covered bars into which the tufts are deposited with the aid of a dabbing-brush, and are overturned afterward by means of' suitable bars during their conveyance toward the stripping-rollers. In certain cornbers, also, cylindrical brushes and cardcylinders have been used as clearing or dofling means to gill-combs, and a fan with suitable blades has been usedin combination with feed-rollers and card-cylinder and traveling comb for overturning the fibe1's--tl1atis, for laying the tail ends of tufts in the direction of the drawing rollers. I disclaim such means and mechanism. All these means heretofore used are unfit for the purpose f'or which blade k and brush h have been devised,- because-said mechanism would not join the single tufts of fibers as safely, as evenly, and as perfectly.

Having now thus fully described my inven- IOC IIO

tion, what Ivclaim as new, and want to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of a nippercylinder and two intermeshing elliptical gear-wheels, one of which is secured to said cylinder, with the driving-shaft, the gearing between said shal't and the second elliptical wheel, and the supporting-frame, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of a nipper-cylinder and two intcrmeshing elliptical gear-wheels, one of which is secured to said cylinder, with the drivingshaft, the gearing between said shaft and the second elliptical wheel, the supporting-frame, a comb, C', operating within the Dipper-cylinder, the arms D',carrying said comb, the shaft T on which said a-rms are mounted, and the means for oscillating said shaft T and comb C', consisting of a cam carried by the drivinglshat't and levers and gearing operated by said cam, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of the driving-shaft and a cam carried thereby with an oscillating shaft, T, levers and gearing between said shaft, whereby the cam on the former oscillates the latter shaft, a stationary cam, Z, having two curves of different radius, the Dipper-jaws H H', rollers traveling on the curves ofsaid cam, springs for holding said rollers against the latter, and levers and arms,th rough which the said Dipper-jaws are actuated by said rollers and doubly-curved cam, substantially as' set forth.

4. The combination of a nippercylinder having jaws, driving-shaft, and intervening gearing with levers and cams for operating the said jaws, a shaft oscillated by said drivingshaft, a cam, levers, and gearing for communicating motion :from the latter shaft to the former, and a comb carried by said oscillating shaft and operating within said nipper-cylinder, substantially as set forth. i; 5. The combination of two pairs of segmental nippers, each pair formed of a stationary and a movable jaw, end plates to which the stationary jaws are secured, means for revolving said end plates, levers to which the movable jaws are affixed, said levers being fnlcrumed on said end plates, two double cranks, each consisting of a pin passing through one of theend plates, an arm secured to said pin inside the end plate, a second arm secured to said pin outside the said end plate, a roller mounted on each of the external arms, stationary cam-surfaces on which said rollers are caused to bear, links connecting the internal arms of said double-cranks to the levers carrying the movable nipper-jaws, and springs connecting the internal arms of the double cranks, all substantially as and for the purpose set forth. n g

6. The combination of a rotary brush and its shaft with a segmental blade surrounding part of said brush, supporting-arms for said blade mounted on said shaft, a pinion fast on the hub of one of said arms, a segment engaging said pinion, a lever, a shaft and cani for oscillating said segment, and devices for feed ing the fibrous material to said brush and removing it therefrom, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination of the side frames, T",

and driving-shaft K, journaled therein, with' `the gears It', r', and R it, the end plates, Q Q,

shalt T, the stationary jaws H H, rigidly connecting said end plates, the movablejaws H', levers U, pins U', fast to end plates, Q, links rV, the double cranks, each consisting of arm end plates, the pins U'. rigidly secured to the end plates, the levers U, movable nipperjaws H', appliedto said levers, double cranks, each consisting of an arm, X, pin X', and arm X", rollers Y, cams Z, fast to said frames T", links V, caps A', and the helical springs B', with the two elliptical gear-wheels R, engaging each other, wheel r', pin W' fast to one of said frames T", gear-wheel k', and the driving-shaft K, which is journaled in said side frames, T", all substantially as set forth.

9. In combination with the driving-shaft and feeding mechanism consisting of a vertically-movable table, a horizontally-movable grate-box arranged on said table, cams on the drivingshaft, levers, segments, and racks actuated by said cams, to effect the horizontal reciprocation of said grate-box, additional cams on the driving-shaft for effecting vertical motion of said table, and levers whereby said motion is transmitted from said cams to the latter, substantially as set forth.

10. In combination with the nipper-cylinder, sliding grate-box, feeding-table, drivingshaft, and cams, levers, and arms, whereby said shaft opens and closes the nippers of said nipper-cylinder, raises and lowers said table, and gives horizontal reciprocatory motion to said grate-box, the rocking segmental comb C', the cam, levers, arms, and shaft, whereby the driving'shaft oscillates sa-id comb, the stationary stop-comb, the straight comb Q' between the nipping-cylinder and stop-comb, the arms and levers which support said comb Q', a rock-shaft having arms connected to one of said supportingarms of the latter comb, an additional arm ol' said rock-shaft, and a cam carried by the nipper-cylinder which acts on the latter arm to oscillate said rock-shaft and said straight comb, substantially as set forth.

ll. The oscillating comb C' and the comb Q', arranged, respectively, inside and outside of the nipper-cylinder, in combination with the latter, means, as described, for rotating said cylinder, the driving-shaft, the supporting-frame, cams, levers, rock-shafts, and arms, whereby the oscillating motions of said combs are effected, and cams, levers, and arms for opening and closing the nipper-jaws of Said cylinder, substantially as set forth.

l2q The stationary nipperjaws and mov IIO able -npperjaws H', in combination with the the drivingshaft and levers,shaft's, cams, and drivingshat, a cam on said shaft, the shaft T, gearing, whereby the said driving-shaft actuf intervening leversEF, the noses g on the latates said comb and cylinder, as described, x5 ter shaft` the rollers g', arranged t-o be actusubstantially as set forth. f

5 ated at limes by said noses, the levers U, pins In testimony that I claim the foregoing I U. plates Q. links V, arms X, pins X', arms f hereto sign my name in the presence of two X, and the supportingframe of the machine, I subscribing witnesses.

substantially as set forth.

13. 1n combination with the nipping-cylin- H' TRUXLER lo der having movable jaws H and stationary Witnesses:

jaws H, and the extracting-roller R', bearing A. HORY, against the same, with the straight comb Q', SoilsatIRlRv ABT. 

